Poverty, inequality consequences of Filipinos’ religious addiction

Re: “Poverty and inequality in the Philippines” by Ernesto Pernia (12/2/22).

Once again, Pernia and others have pussy-footed around the elephant in the room. Poverty and inequality are consequences of our cultural “fatal attraction” to a religious addiction. To address this without a long essay, I would like to share an excerpt of my article “Existential Challenges of Our Time” in a Filipino-Canadian newspaper in Toronto, Ontario, Canada:

“From the moment I became aware of the church’s role in the mid-’50s and all through the ‘60s in the close-knit town of my birth, the church was the pulse of the community. There was no separation of politics and religion; politics deferred to the church’s wishes. But in retrospect, the assurance provided by church rituals, year in and year out, were the seeds of our diffidence, our unenlightened and retrogressive approach to life. Our religious preoccupation reinforces our inferiority complex. ‘Lord, I am not worthy to receive you…’ one of many ‘liturgical flattery,’ recited thousands of times, to an imaginary icon, has all the potential of transforming some people into an empty shell.

“We misread stability and constancy as our lifelong ticket to progress. Religion is all about fear and submission. A big ‘shish,’ a constant creator of self-doubt and guilt, throwing roadblocks to our creativity and self-expression. Any hopes of generational changes are quickly dashed with a deep-rooted dynastical leadership running the country. Along with a religious stranglehold, we will see ourselves consistently ranked at the bottom of our Asean brothers for a long time to come.

“Of course, we are all differently affected by this predicament, just as towns and regions are. The big metropolises can ‘survive’ this blight better than the disconnected hinterlands. Individually, the more comfortable among us can indulge in whatever; the country’s future is the furthest thing in their minds. Alas, this ‘fatal attraction’ for the homeland is now well known as a significant cause of our perennially diminishing returns.”

The chickens have now come to roost!

Edwin de Leon,

[email protected]